Happy 25th!

The organization I work for just had it's 25th Anniversary celebration. A lot of former employees, visiting scientists, and related scientists all fell upon Madison to commemorate and reflect on the past and future of satellite meteorology.
Two "themes" of the meeting made an impression on me. The first was reflecting on how amazing it must have been to be on the forefront of satellite meteorology. We take for granted the satellite image that appears on the nightly weather forecast. We don't get surprised by the formation of hurricanes anymore: they are easy to find in a satellite image. The collection of satellite data has made huge impacts in improving day to day weather forecasts as well. Without that data, the computer models that forecasters rely on would have significantly less skill. But, there was a time when this information wasn't around, and a few visionaries put their imagination and knowledge together and came up with the idea of viewing clouds and the atmosphere from space. Many of those pioneers founded my organization.

The second impression the meeting made on me was the degree of international collaboration. We had speakers from China, Australia, Great Britain, Korea, and Germany, among others. Many of those workers spent time at my organization, learning and sharing ideas. I believe that a bridge across political conflict is scientific cooperation. If your countries have a vested interest in working together, conflict has more severe consequences. I've touched on this topic before, and it struck me more strongly this week. If even one politician could use science as the center of their platform, they'd have a much stronger and healthier platform. Perhaps I'm a dreamer on that one.

I don't always like my job. Hardly anyone does. But, most of the time it's an amazing place with people working really well together doing cutting edge science and having a good time. For that, I'm luckier than most.